Short Fiction

The Lessons reflects a young lady named Sylvia who seems to have become a product of her environment. Her and her cousin Sugar lives in the same neighborhood of a lady named Miss Moore. Miss Moore happens to be college educated and devoted to teaching the youth in her community. However, it's evident that Sylvia is not fond of not only Miss Moore but people who are like her. Her attitude appears to be defensive as if she feels inferior to others who are not like her such as Miss Moore and one of her peers, Mercedes. The trip that Miss Moore take the children on is to a very expensive toy store where all the children are astonished at the prices of the toys. Bold and courageous Sylvia for once feels that she is out of place and immediately gets angered asking “Watcha bring us here for, Miss Moore?”. Miss Moore brought the children to the toy store to teach them the value of money and the socio-economic issues that these children and their families are facing. Miss Moore was once tha...

In "Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway displays the conversation, between a man and a woman, regarding the decision of abortion. However, throughout the short story abortion is never mentioned and instead Hemingway impels the reader to use the setting and dialogue in order to under the theme of the story. The importance of where the story is taking place, the author’s clues within the title, and the tone of the conversation reveals the topic of conversation as well as hints at each person’s perspective on the topic. It appears that the woman is indecisive whereas the man is inadvertently persuading her to go through with the abortion. The underlying theme of the short story is all the obstacles this couple must work through before deciding whether to have an abortion, morally and emotionally, and how they are or are not able to have that clear conversation before deciding.